Quote:
Originally Posted by Benedict
Thanks Dan.
That's an interesting question about Savage Worlds. It is quite a bland system, or at least no less bland than most other mainstream systems. There is nothing inherent in the system that specifically refers to swashbuckling action. It is a fast system though and swashbuckling action should be fast.
However, it should be easy to use the rules, bland as they are, to run swashbuckling swordplay – more successfully than with many other systems, I would suggest. For example, the 'shaken' state in combat really demands more description than loss of hit points, and that description can be put in swashbuckling terms. There is a system of 'tricks' in combat (with better examples given for Solomon Kane than in the main rule book), which are very much swashbucklery – throwing your cape over your opponent's face for example. The available edges include many fencing advantages, such as lunge or riposte.
I'm not sure I would describe the system as emulating swashbuckling action, though in my opinion it does facilitate it.
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Savage Worlds is only as bland as the group that plays it. It's expected that the players and GM will provide descriptive substance (called 'trappings') for their actions. So, while it may seem to lack detail, SW actually distills the end result of many Stunts, Maneuvers, Combat Rites, Feats, and other d20 crunchy bitz into a few combat options. With the rules for tricks and tests of will, for example, SW does in a few paragraphs what took The Book of Iron Might several chapters.
Savage Worlds encourages vivid description, both in and out of combat. How much swashbuckling flavor that description contains is up to the players.